The Lake
by WeepingSwan
Summary: This is my first FanFiction. "Throughout his entire life his only purpose was to fend for himself, to just survive. One day he comes across a mysterious lake, where he learns that there are greater things in life worth fighting for...true love." Please Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

It seems to me like every story is the same. An elaborate ball, a prince sweeping his princess off of her feet, and then…Happily Ever After. Well, unfortunately this is not that story. This is the tale of not about my life, but that one event that turned it completely around. Everything before this, as I remember now, doesn't matter. I was once told that life is about not its duration, but those critical moments in life that define our lives. Everyday I would think about where I would sleep, how I would eat, and if I would survive. Nothing I did before was worth anything until I found the lake. Nothing I did was for anyone else. And now, I gave up everything, so she could live. As I think about it, maybe that is the problem with these typical tales, everything is just black and white. Things are never as they seem. In reality, a no-body can be a hero, a man can be a monster, and a swan can be a princess.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun rose, as it did every morning. Its warm rays hit my face as I fight to keep my eyes shut, savoring the last few moments of peace before I had no choice but to face the incoming day. Rubbing my eyes and propping myself up I struggled to remember what I did the prior evening. The pounding pain in my head and the uncommonly bright sun meant one thing…celebration. Before every job the Captain always felt the need to take us to our favorite inn, 'The Black Swan.' There we would find ourselves in the company of empty pints and soft women. I look over to the other side of the bed, I see Victoria. There was never any type of romance or words of love between us; just the lust of two humans. For the past year, whenever it was safe for us to travel into the village we would always stay at the Swan. Victoria seemed to take a liking to me and would always pay me special attention. We both knew that nothing else would come from our little arrangement. I think that the few times we have spent together were the closest that either of us would have towards a normal existence. I can never stay in one village for very long, every time we seemed to be settled, it would be time to get up and leave. Victoria, orphaned as a child, never had the desire for a simple farm life. She always told me that I was the only man she could trust. The thoughts of someone depending on me, needing me, warms my soul. But today was different. Never before had I recalled waking after one of Captain's pre-parties and feeling so empty. Not a normal sickly feeling like one would expect from the night that we had enjoyed, but this was more a hollowness in the chest. I have felt this before but more and more this feeling had become more prominent. My current situation in life does not have the same satisfaction that it once had. Usually the thought of not knowing what each day would bring, what women would come into my bed, the riches we have made, and outrunning the knights, would bring a devilish grin to my face. But not today.

"Must have been that wine." I grumbled.

I finally force myself out of bed looking out the window, trying to shake these thoughts from my head. Today Captain was going to brief us about our last job. Hopefully we will be able to go into hiding for the winter and hopefully I will be able to use the long-coming spring to flee the country and finally buy some land like a true gentleman. And what do the women love more than a landed gentleman. We all need something to dream about, something to believe in, and something to hope for. Or else we have nothing.

I pulled on my boots and my tunic and slowly made my way downstairs. The rich smell of sausage and eggs filled the air. You can always tell when the housekeeper, Mrs. Crowley, was in good spirits; her cooking. Captain must have paid a good sum for this breakfast. As I reach the dinning room I can already hear the arguments of my mates. "I don't understand why I must keep explaining myself to you. Pathetic little commoner. By my honor…I am a Prince!" His companion just sat there with a smile on his face and a look of annoyance. At least once a month Jean-Bob and Speed would have this debate. Moreover, Jean-Bob would just rant and Speed would always sit with smug satisfaction on his face.

"But it does not make much sense to common folk such as myself. If you are a rich prince of some land I have never heard of, how are you here, living the life of a peasant?"

Jean-Bob was now turning beat red. Even though he was a much smaller and leaner man than Speed, Jean-Bob would have the temper of two large men and an old spinster combined.

"How are you that stupid of a human being? Are you so uneducated that you never heard of Vulcan? It is a smaller nation to be sure but it thrives on the trade of fine silks and the harvest is always plentiful and the women…"

Speed interrupted the so-called prince's rant, "Then if this utopia exists why are you here?"

"Well, since I have built my country into a earthly haven, naturally some savage outsider would want to take it. My country has been at war for five years. And to save my life I was sent here to hide until can return again to rule over my people. But for now I have to take in the satisfaction of just being much more intelligent than you can ever hope to be."

"Well, I hope that one day I will be able to say that I knew the Prince of Fairyland and someday I hope I will be in his good graces to be allowed to bow to his greatness."

"I accept your pathetic apology. Maybe I will find you a place in my army or you could clean after the horses. Whichever I see fit, depending on the way I am treated during this time of crisis and war."

Jean-Bob managed to stifle a tear adding more to the dramatic affect. If it weren't for us he would probably be living in the poorhouse. For some reason our band of misfits can tolerate his rants. Captain is the reason we are all here. He found us and made us a family. Jean-Bob, he found at a brothel in the north trying to summon the ale-influenced men to join his army to save his nation. As I recall he mentioned that the men were 'as simple minded as a fly and smellier then an ass' behind.' And he still wonders to this day why he did not manage to create a fitting army. Lorenzo, or Speed as we call him, was in the Captain's army regiment. The nickname rightly originated from the Great War. During the war, Captain's brigade was ambushed in the mountains of the foreign lands. He was shot with an arrow into his leg. Speed, in risk of his own life carried him back behind the lines, as they were being chased and shot at by the enemy. I guess that is why they call him Speed. But that was before I came around. Jean-Bob seems to believe that a woman originally gave him that nickname for some unknown reason.

"And where is that old man? Telling us to be awake at dawn and he is not even here. If I led a group…"

"And lets hope you never do." Captain entered the room with a smug on his face. For being, as Jean-Bob mentioned, an 'old man' he resembled a much younger man with the mind as sharp as his sword. "Sorry to interrupt your Majesty. How is the war treating you these days?"

"Very ill Puffin. It bodes me very ill, indeed."

"Very glad to hear it, we will hear nothing but sighs of depression and whimpering all winter for our amusement and mockery."

"Just you wait, when I am once a wealthy prince again…"

"You will unleash your rain of terror on us poor common folk. You have made that very clear." Speed piped in.

"I do not like being the donkey's ass. If I am such a drama king, so to speak, then it is my understanding that my only use is to be the court jester. Bound to be mocked for the duration of his poor pathetic existence."

Speed smiled. I knew that inside the workings of his head he was formulating a clever and cruel response but kindly choose not to express it.

"Jean-Bob, you know for a fact that without you this group would be null. In fact without you, we would not be able to pull off this task today." Captain said trying so very hard not to sound the least bit sarcastic. Jean-Bob, satisfied with his response let the matter drop letting an awkward silence fill the room.

"Puffin!" Yelled Mr. Crowley as he waddled over to our table. "How are my best costumers?" Mr. Crowley was one of the few people on the Earth that were allowed to call the Captain by his Christian name. The old men had a very advantageous agreement. Crowley would always put us up in his inn, with his best girls included. Captain would always give him a share of what we have earned for him to keep. It is a very fair system.

"Well, Robert, very well. I assume that our usual sitting room is prepared?"

"Of course. And may I say that you all look very handsome in your recent 'Wanted' posters. Except for young master Derek, for some reason they still have not been able to color your face and…"

"And we plan on keeping it that way. The rest of us are older and have had more turns to face the trials and wonders of life. We all had lives before the change of rule. If my boy can go through life without being worried about his backside then I will die a happy man!"

Captain took this moment and led us away from the table and into a private sitting room where we could talk privately and so he may lick his wounds. He was once the Captain of the Army of King Philip. They fought many wars together and Captain watched as the good king died on the battlefield. Twenty years ago, his only son, Henry, reached his majority and assumed rule from his mother, Uberta. After increasing the taxes and changing all the Lords in his court, Prince Henry proceeded to dismiss anyone still loyal to the deceased king. This, of course, meant Captain Charles Puffin. And that is how we were gathering in this room. For the past ten years, our little band of thieves has made Chamburg very famous. With us small enough to be practically uncatchable and my, apparently, mystery face, we were able to keep the Royal Guard on their toes. They were never really much of a nuisance. As long as we didn't take more than what we needed or made too much noise they usually left us alone. And now this was our last job before we go north for the winter away from the city. The cold was bitter in this kingdom and the first frost was due in a few months. So we had that long to prepare and this job would give us enough money to buy supplies to last a year.

"Alright, gentlemen, have a seat. I will be very brief because time is of the essence. As some of you may know there have been some visiting royals in the palace for the duration of the summer. Working out land negotiations of some sort. However, as my informant tells me, they are to depart in three days time. Which means…" Captain paused. "Which means that they will be sending a carriage of servants and luggage ahead of them." He paused again, not knowing if any of us knew where his was getting at. "If there were negotiations taking place then that means that there were probably gifts exchanged of quite a significant value. And to protect the precious royals they would never send them with the gifts, as it is too risky. So they will be sending their treasures with the servants at about noontime today. That, boys, is our target. Any questions? No? Then there is only one thing to say…NO Fear."


	3. Chapter 3

The sight before us has no words to describe it. The only thing that reaches my mind is death. The mutilated bodies of several royal guards scattered in the clearing, horses running in every direction without its rider, and a single carriage tipped and caught aflame. We all gave our minds only mere moments to retain what our eyes have witnessed. Captain began to give orders to put out the fire and to check each of the men to see if there was a small chance of survival. Hope was quickly diminished. What could have happened here? Was it an attack of terrorism? Or maybe a group like ours trying to survive. Captain would not have approved of killing. Stealing a man's wealth is far more forgivable than taking a man's life. In the back of my confused mind I can hear the muffled voices of Captain and Speed arguing. Not very often that would happen, however; these are horrific circumstances.

"…winter to worry about. We need to think about ourselves. There is nothing more that we can do for these men. We need to leave before someone sees."

"And is that what you'd have me do, dear friend? Leave these men to the birds and the wolves? I will not allow it. I have never left a man behind before and I don't plan on leaving them tonight! These young boys deserve respect!"

"Obviously whoever attacked them got what they wanted. With this many guards, this carriage must have been worth a good amount."

"We shouldn't at least go get help? Wouldn't that be the honorable thing to do?" Piped in Jean-Bob.

"Have you noticed something?"

"What?"

"Where are those servants that were supposed to be in this carriage?"

Captain paused. "They must have escaped, poor souls. These bodies have been here for no more than a few hours. The royal army could be coming this way any moment. My friend I apologize for my doubts. Gentlemen we need to leave immed…." A low groan came from behind him. "Jean-Bob there will be not a word of complaint from you!"

"It was not I!"

Another groan. Captain looked down lying under the brush, some distance from the wreckage was a soldier. A young man who was about my age, laying in a pool of what was most likely his own blood. We all circled around him. Jean-Bob kneeled down to prop his head up. The boy was holding his side; his hands were red soaked.

"Son?" Captain hesitantly asked. "What happened here?"

The soldier, breathing very shallow, opened his eyes. "It's…It's not what it seems. Not man, a great animal."

A mixture of emotion crashes upon me. What animal could have done all this? Never have I heard of anything in these forests that could slaughter all these men? A wolf, maybe? Mountain lion? Neither of them would kill unless threatened. This carriage was riding down a common road, never have there been attacks such as these. But what else could it be? Whatever it was we needed to leave the area before whatever it was comes back. Instinctively I began to look for any signs of what animal it was and where it went. With my eyes to the ground I began to scan the area, attempting not to focus on the smell of death behind me. But there was nothing, no tracks, and only human footprints. Was it a man who attacked these men? Impossible, one man would not be able to slaughter all these men, a group? But the soldier said that it was a 'great animal'. In the corner of my eye I suddenly saw a flicker from the sunlight. Gold? Looking closer covered in mud it was a golden heart. Curiosity filled me, as I gingerly picked up this treasure. A golden locket with a swan engraved in it. Was its owner one of the servants who escaped? Or did it belong to a love-stricken soldier?

"Derek! What are ye doing?" Puffin shouted at me, still sitting next to the boy. I ran over to them, the boy's breathing was quickened as if he knew and feared what was coming. He looked up at Jean-Bob, the lights in his eyes slowing fading. "Don't leave me, please." Jean-bob nodded. Speed opened his mouth to protest but was shot down with the Captain's glare. I kneeled next to him taking his hand in mine. I felt his pulse running in his hand, as if his heart was fighting for life. The boy gave me a weakened smile and looked towards my other hand seeing the locket.

"Help," he huffed attempting to speak, his eyes shot open.

"Whose is this? Did it belong to a soldier?"

"help… her, Ode…" Not even finishing his last words, he breathed out heavily and closed his eyes.

"Her? Who her?" Jean-Bob shouted.

Speed, Captain, and I looked at each other not knowing what to say or how to answer. Before any of us could utter a word, the sound of thundering hooves could be heard in the near distance. That only meant one thing.

"Soldiers!" Jean-Bob shouted throwing his arms in the air and running off back into the woods.

Looking down the road, we could clearly see the Captain of the guard and his herd of men. We ran after Jean-Bob, towards the woods.

"Run Lads, Run!"

Like deer running from wildfire, we raced through the woods as fast as our legs could take us, attempting to dodge every tree and ditch. What felt like we ran for miles, we only stopped after a few mire minutes. When we were certain that we were not followed Jean-Bob quickly curled up into a ball to catch his breath.

"Let us never do that again!"

"Captain, what was that?" Speed cautiously asked.

"I don't know boys, so many questions and yet so little answers."

"If it was an animal attack, where's the treasure?" Jean-bob piped and the rest nodded in agreement.

"I don't know! That was what I was told. The servants would be coming down today and with that treasure from the King. And that is another thing I don't entirely understand. Why would the cheap ass himself, King Henry, send a large group of men racing to an animal attack of men that were most likely already dead. If I know that boy, he would send a couple of men, if any at all just to clear his roads so he doesn't have the misfortune of bumps in the road."

"What do we do now?"

"We stay with our plan, we go back to the Swan until we are sure its safe and then we will head north to the boarder for the winter."

We all silently agreed. But the chill of the sight of those men and the words of that boy still linger through me. For some reason, in the back of my mind, I knew that this is not an animal attack this isn't what it seems. 'Help…her.' 'Help…her.' 'Help…her.'

I have never seen the Captain so shaken, nor have I ever seen him move in such haste. We waited until nightfall, as soon as we were sure that we were not being followed by the guard we returned to the Black Swan, to figure out our plan of action. It was the middle of the night; the inn was empty of any patrons. There was only the old man Crowley waiting for us as if he knew that we were to return.

"Thank the good Lord." Crowley sighed when we walked in the door. "What has happened?"

"I will say nothing here sir, please I will satisfy your need for the information, in private." Captain looked back at us and shook his head. He did not want us to follow. Speed, Jean-Bob, and I sat in the hall, ale in hand, waiting for Captain to return. All we could do was wait.

"I will bet everything I own, that was an attempt at an attack of my life!" Cried Jean-Bob. "They must have been assassins attempting to take my rightful place as king."

"And it was a shame that they didn't succeed."

Puffin quickly ushered Crowley into the private sitting room. Both were eager to piece together the mystery that was already being rumored about the village.

"Puffin, there were soldiers here today. They were looking for you and your boys."

"What ever for? We did nothing wrong, we stumbled about the remnants of an animal attack?"

"An animal attack? That is not what I was told."

"Why my dear man, do you believe that I am capable of such slaughter? I watched a boy die today in my arms. Do you honestly think that I am the one responsible for his destruction?"

"Not at all."

"What happened when the soldiers came?"

"They pulled me into my office. Asked if I knew ye, of course everyone knows that you come here from time to time, I told them you were an occasional patron and nothing more. My wife unfortunately was forced to show them your signature in the book. They know you are here and that the guards earlier saw you and your boys at the scene. My friend you need to leave and leave immediately."

"Surely Henry will not send an army out for a few soldiers, it is not like him to feel compassion for others."

"You are right on that account, but he would if the passenger in that carriage was his betrothed."

"I beg your pardon, his what?"

"You heard me correctly sir, his betrothed."

"Bloody hell Robert! You told me that that carriage would be for the maids and footmen. Not a noble!" Puffin stopped for a second and breathed very heavily trying to comprehend the situation. "She was not among the dead. They were all soldiers…"

"Exactly why you are now on the run…she is missing."

"And they think we are responsible?"

"That is what I have deducted. But this information was not from the soldiers but from the rumors circulating already. You must leave, Puffin, at this moment. Head south, not north, that is where they will start looking."

"Where do we go my friend? South of the kingdom is nothing but thick forests and mountains. It will be miles before we come across a safe town."

"Ah, yes but I am one step ahead of you. Not to far from here, in the forest, are old hunting cottages. One was my father's and it was his land before the change of power. Now that the King owns the land no one will dare enter. I will come for you when after the first snow and I will help you get to the border. But my friend you must go now!"

"Thank you Robert, I don't know how to repay you for your kindness."

"Just stay alive, all of you."

At the first light of dawn, we set out to the southern forests. Captain wanted to flee into the night, but Crowley was able to convince him otherwise. Without the advantage of daylight, we would have most certainly been lost. The land south of the kingdom was vast with tall oaks, mountain ranges, and dozens of lakes in the valleys. There was no roads, towns, or any sign human life. It was easy to get lost, easy to hide. Captain didn't tell us what the old man had to say, but I could tell that it was not good. Many a time have we ran from the King's guard but never have I seen him in such a state of fear and anxiety. I knew why we were running. The soldiers saw us; they think we killed those men.


End file.
